A Long Walk to Water Chapters 5–6 Summary & Analysis

Summary: Chapter 5, Nya: Southern Sudan, 2008

Every year when the pond goes dry, Nya’s family moves to the big lake, a three-day’s journey. It would be too dangerous to live near the lake year-round. Nya’s tribe, the Nuer, fight with the rival Dinka tribe over the land near the lake. But during the five-months of the dry season, the tribes fight less as they struggle to survive.

Though dry like the pond, the lake is much larger and still holds water in its clay. As at home, Nya’s job is to fetch water. She digs into the clay until muddy water rises and she can fill her gourd. Every day Nya waits and fills, waits and fills, until it begins to rain again, and the family can return home.

Summary: Chapter 5, Salva: Southern Sudan, 1985

The Jur-chol men build a fire to smoke the hive and make the bees sleepy. But bees, angered by the intrusion, swarm and sting Salva, and his eyes swell shut. With a stomach full of honey and beeswax, the pain is worth it. But not for the man who is stung on his tongue and can’t eat.

The walking is easier now that Salva isn’t so hungry. More people join the group every day and Salva searches their faces for his family.

One day, Salva meets a boy named Marial who speaks Dinka. Marial, like Salva, has not found his family. The boys discuss their situation. Marial convinces Salva that they are headed east, toward Ethiopia. Salva worries that his family will never find him in another country. The boys share a laugh when Marial reassures him that they will walk around the world and arrive back in Sudan, where they will find their families.

Salva has been walking for a month, and now they travel through the land of the Aruot, the “people of the lion.” In this region, lions prey on game such as antelope and wildebeest. Salva has heard stories that when an Aruot dies, he comes back as a lion. Now the sounds of roaring and death fill the night.
One day, weary with sleeplessness, Salva is walking behind Marial. He hears a voice call his name. He turns to look, dumbfounded by who he sees.

Summary: Chapter 6, Nya: Southern Sudan, 2008

Nya has been coming to the lake camp for as long as she can remember. She likes not having to walk to the pond twice a day, even though she has to dig and wait for water. Nya’s mother hates the camp. Mostly, she is terrified when her husband and Nya’s older brother, Dep, hunt. They might encounter men from the Dinka tribe, and fight, be injured, or killed. So far, the family has been lucky.

Summary: Chapter 6, Salva: Southern Sudan, 1985

Salva stands frozen in place. He speaks, but no sound comes out. A man running toward him is calling his name. Salva finds his voice and his feet. He runs into the arms of his Uncle Jewiir, his father’s youngest brother. Uncle asks Salva where his family is, dashing Salva’s hope that Uncle knows where they are. Salva recounts his story, and Uncle promises to take care of Salva.

Uncle joins the group and the others look up to him as a leader of sorts. He has a gun and shoots a young antelope, which the group roasts. Salva eats and is violently ill, his stomach unable to digest the rich food.

Salva and Marial stay close to Uncle as the group walks through Aruot territory. One night after walking endlessly in search of water, Salva passes out. His uncle shakes him awake to tell him that Marial has disappeared in the night.

Analysis: Chapters 5–6

Mother Nature dictates the risks and choices that Nya’s family must make in order to survive. Their very existence is organized around access to water. Water is their primary value because water is life and survival. Access to water even supersedes the danger of tribal conflict. Nya’s family, members of the Nuer tribe, put their safety at risk when they travel during the dry season to the lake dominated by the rival Dinka tribe. The risk is necessary because the pond back home will remain dry until the rains return. Because those in the Dinka tribe share the same basic need for water, the rivalry between the tribes becomes secondary to survival during those months when both tribes live near the lake. That the tribes share the same geography adds another layer of risk to the family’s existence, for Nya’s father and brother must hunt for food. Nya’s mother is terrified that her men might encounter men from the Dinka tribe while hunting. But food, like water, is necessary for the family’s survival, so she must live with her terror.

With survival as his only goal, Salva learns that he must accept the pain and suffering that comes with achieving that goal. Disturbing a beehive and risking the pain of being stung is worth it for the food the hive provides. Ironically, to the man whose tongue is so swollen by bee stings that he cannot eat the honey, the risk-reward doesn’t pay off. Days later, when Salva eats the roasted meat of the antelope his uncle shot, his experience is similar to that of the man with the swollen tongue—though Salva is starving and the food is in front of him, he cannot digest it. His stomach cannot handle the richness of the meat, and ironically, the very food his body so craves makes him sick. Driven by his raging thirst, Salva continues walking, hanging on to a thread of hope that the group will find water.

Salva’s spirit is fed by the companionship he finds in Marial. They share their fears, their uncertainty about their future, their determination to find their families, and their day-to-day struggle to survive. Even in their desperate circumstances of walking every day all day to where they do not know, they find moments of laughter and playfulness as they begin to rely on each other as friends do. Together, they can be children and experience moments of fun and innocence. They support one another with the hope that they will find their families again. Marial’s comment that they may travel all the way around the world to find their families foreshadows where Salva’s journey will take him. When Salva’s uncle appears, he takes both boys under his wing, providing a familial connection not only to Salva, but to Marial as well.

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